Dylan’s paintings hit the right note
Times they are a-changing for UK art group Halcyon as it exhibits the singer’s works
Putting a price on the works of a new artist is difficult at the best of times. When the artist happens to be Bob Dylan, the task is even more challenging. Dylan has just handed the mandate to sell and exhibit 300 of his paintings, including a limited run of signed prints, to UK-based Halcyon Fine Art Group.
The firm will be exhibiting Dylan’s work at the Halcyon Gallery in London this month. Its chief executive Udi Shelag would not be drawn on the price of the paintings but said he expected several pieces to attract tens of thousands of pounds and a few to fetch more than £100,000 ($198,000).
A limited run of signed prints is expected to generate between £1,000 and £4,000 each. Shelag said: “There’s no point getting carried away with the fame of an artist and you can’t go around asking other people what they think. You need to make up your own mind based on your experience of the market.”
One art dealer said Halcyon’s commercial nous should achieve success for Dylan. Other London galleries said sales remained brisk, despite the economic uncertainties.
At the Timothy Taylor Gallery in Mayfair, all but one of 12 paintings by Fiona Rae, who was shortlisted for a Turner Prize, were sold before opening night a fortnight ago. London has 300 commercial galleries of which the majority prosper by hosting works by living artists. “Clients get a buzz from meeting them,” said one gallery owner.
Galleries arbitrage on price between artists and clients, although it is more important to keep the clients happy. The right price would achieve a premium of, say, 10% in the aftermarket. However, this premium can range between zero and 50%.
Dozens of Halcyon’s clients weigh their wealth rather than measure it. The firm helped to arrange the sale of sculptures by Lorenzo Quinn to the Emir of Qatar but it also has mere millionaires on its books, happy to pay £50,000 or £200,000 for a quality work.
Halcyon was launched 25 years ago in Birmingham. Co-founder Paul Green said: “We opened a gallery and invited people to visit for free. The market was not sophisticated then and we wanted to offer it something new.”
The business developed its commercial edge when it created Washington Green, which markets contemporary art and limited edition reproductions. Washington Green’s marketing influence is said to have impressed Dylan’s advisers, as did Halcyon’s access to clients of its Bruton Street gallery.
Halcyon Group increased its turnover from £24m to £40m in the year to April 2006, on the back of a buoyant art market, according to filings at Companies House.
Halcyon invests time and money nurturing talent. It provides budding artists with finance by buying their works in advance or structuring profit shares. Artists who win commercial backing at an early stage tend to gain the confidence to produce better work and Halcyon provides its advice and expertise on demand.
But the dealer doesn’t aim to spend its time nursing bruised egos. Shelag said: “True artists don’t need that.”
Green achieved a personal breakthrough with the late Robert Lenkiewitz, renowned for embalming the body of a tramp, Edwin McKenzie, and storing it in his studio. Green said the commercial relationship with the artist was challenging and put his fledgling operation under strain: “But Lenkiewitz is now recognised as an artistic genius and that gives me great satisfaction.”
At any one time, Halcyon will have partnerships with between 100 and 150 artists and 60 of these have been in place over the long term. Adviser Todd Ruppert, global chief executive at US asset manager T Rowe Price, sees similarities with the way both firms nurture managers and clients.
Green said: “Once, I saw a portrait by Mitch Griffiths at an art fair and became passionate about representing him. It took six months but I got there.” A Griffiths self-portrait has just been displayed at the National Gallery after winning an award sponsored by BP.
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